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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Erica Rivera Interviews The Lower 48

Q&A: The Lower
48

Formed in Minneapolis
in 2009, The
Lower 48 made the all-too-familiar pilgrimage West to Portland,
OR, after releasing their debut
EP Everywhere To Go. Now comprised of Ben Braden (Vocals/Guitar),
Nick Sadler (Vocals/Drums/Harmonica/Trumpet), and Sarah Parson
(Vocals/Guitar/Bass/Piano), the trio makes melodic, lively tunes that evoke
bonfires, backyard barbecues, and carefree reverie. The band’s first
full-length, Where All Maps End, was released in 2011. We spoke with Ben
Braden in anticipation of the band's May 4th show at the CedarCulturalCenter.

Q: Based on the band's name and song lyrics from your latest album,
geography seems to play an important part in your music. Could you speak to its
influence?

Ben Braden: That's mainly me. I'm fascinated with maps and moving, how
you can move so little on a map yet the distance between places feels so far.
The band name has nothing to do with geography; I just thought it was a really
cool idiom that not enough people use anymore. The record name, Where All
Maps End, came from when we moved out here--and by "out here" I mean Portland.
We were still stupid kids--we're still stupid kids now, hopefully a little less
stupid--and we'd never done anything like that before. I'd always had a map for
life: school, summer, school. Moving out here meant there would be no map
anymore. This is where all maps ended.

Q: One of your bios describes your band as "organic". What
does that entail?

Ben Braden: We record ourselves. We don't have a producer. We use
all real instruments. We play simple songs and we play them beautifully. The
music is not dressed up or fancy. It's not auto-tuned or synth-y. A lot of
people can pick up their guitars and play our songs. People can do what they
want with the album; learn the songs and cover them.

Q: Many musicians have gone back-and-forth between Minneapolis
and Portland. Talk about how the
scenes are different.

BB: A lot of people ask this question and I never have a good answer.
People expect it's going to be the same, but it's different. The Twin Cities
has three good radio stations where it's possible to get your music played or
get interviewed on (The Current, KFAI, and Radio K). Radio is an amazing
resource because it focuses on local bands and gets people out to shows.
The Twin Cities has so many entry-level music venues, like the 7th
Street Entry, the 400 Bar, the Cedar, the Varsity,
the Triple Rock. There are not as many entry level venues with good sound
that people can go to out here and there's nothing you can listen to on the
radio--except college radio, with a limited signal--that will tell you about
local shows. I think that's just the culture of this town. It's harder to build
a fan base in Portland, though our
following in both places is similar now. We can get 400 to 500 people in a show
in either place, though it took 2 1/2 years out here, whereas it took 9 months
in Minneapolis.

Q: Does that ever make you want to move back?

BB: There are other, personal, reasons keeping us here. There's a song
on the new album, which we wrote after moving, called "Miles From
Minnesota". It's cheerful and upbeat, and while I still like that song,
real life, which has been a fun and exciting experience, isn't like that. I pay
my own bills now, which was a big undertaking. It's tougher and harder out
here. It's not all roses and buttercups.

Q: Have you ever run into a musician that left you starstruck?

BB: There are a lot of big bands in Portland
and I've had personal run-ins with big names and it's like "Holy
crap!" But when we're a band, onstage, I feel like we can take on
anything, like nothing can faze us, and I don't say that to sound arrogant.
My first instinct when I run into another musician is to treat them like
anyone else. Some people think it's important if a big person likes your
music, but it really doesn't matter to me. There's no quick way to fame;
there's no short-cut. You just have to work.

Q: Are you doing music full-time or do you have day jobs?

BB: I'm doing music full-time. Some of us still have day jobs. We're in
a weird, transitional stage right now. [Yawns] Forgive my voice. I turned 21
last night.

Q: As I was looking over your Facebook photos, I noticed a lot
of neck ties. Is that a "thing" for you guys?

BB: Some bands can pull off that "I don't give a damn; come as you
are" thing and look cool, but we can't, so I had the idea to come up with
some sort of uniform, some sort of look. It might sound like a cheap gimmick,
but I wanted to store that familiarity in our image. It's like the difference
between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Beatles had the suits, the
ties, the haircuts. The Stones looked like "whatever" and it worked
for them, but not for us.

Q: What's your goal for the band? Is it fame or to be self-sustaining?

BB: That's a big question for me. I'd like to take it as far as we
possibly can. We're really motivated. We're close to being self-sustaining. In
a year, we'll be living crappily off of it, like Ramen noodle living off of it.
I don't know if we'll ever play an arena, because we aren't that kind of band.
I guess we're going to find out.